Space & Astronomy

Missing Moon probe found after eight years

By T.K. Randall
March 12, 2017 ·  2 comments

DSS-14 at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex. Image Credit: NASA / JPL The discovery was made using a new interplanetary radar pioneered by scientists at JPL - a federally funded research and development center that works on robotic space missions.

The project came about in response to the need for a way to detect objects in orbit around the Moon, something that has proven almost impossible using conventional optical telescopes.

The team actually managed to locate two orbiters - NASA's still-active Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and India's Chandrayaan-1 - a probe that had gone silent eight years ago."Finding LRO was relatively easy, as we were working with the mission's navigators and had precise orbit data where it was located," said radar scientist Marina Brozovic.

"Finding India's Chandrayaan-1 required a bit more detective work because the last contact with the spacecraft was in August of 2009."

It is hoped that in the future, the new radar will be able to act as a collisional hazard assessment tool for lunar orbiters while also offering a way to track a spacecraft in the event that it runs in to trouble.

Source: Science Daily | Comments (2)

Tags: Moon, India